After the Pitiful Little One Seduced the Feudal Big Daddy - Chapter 21

Since Xie Min could do nothing but cry after dropping his bombshell, and remaining at the Academy gates was not an option, Pei Xuan took charge. He led Xie Yunqing and his brother to a Pei family villa near the Imperial Academy.

Xie Yunqing didn’t want to trouble Pei Xuan further, but he was currently at his wits’ end, worrying for both his father and his brother. He accepted the kindness.

As soon as they boarded the carriage, Xie Min stopped crying on his own. He nestled in Xie Yunqing’s arms, eyes wide with novelty, looking left and right. He even tried to pry the gemstone decorations from the carriage window, though Xie Yunqing stopped him. When blocked, Xie Min pouted, ready to wail and roll around in his brother’s lap.

Xie Yunqing was panicking internally, yet he had to steady himself and softly reason with the boy, telling him he couldn’t touch others’ belongings. Xie Min didn’t listen, continuing his tantrum until Pei Xuan knit his brows and shot him a glance. Scared into silence, the boy finally settled down.

Xie Yunqing gave Pei Xuan an apologetic look. Xie Min had been spoiled by their father and stepmother since birth, treated like a precious pearl. He almost never had to face a “no.” Whenever Xie Yunqing tried to intervene in the past, Xie Min would complain to their parents, resulting in Xie Yunqing being scolded by his father or whipped by his stepmother with thin bamboo slats.

Yet, Xie Yunqing didn’t hate his brother. Without Xie Min, his life at home would have been even more unbearable. As long as he kept the boy happy, his stepmother wouldn’t look for trouble. There were even times when his stepmother locked him in the woodshed without food or water for days, and while his father did nothing, it was Xie Min who secretly slid rice and water through the door. The boy wasn’t malicious; he was just over-pampered.

By the time they reached the villa, it was dark. The estate was ablaze with lights, a beautiful sight. Xie Min, seeing such splendor for the first time, forgot everything else and began touching everything in sight. Cui Ji suggested Xie Yunqing take the boy to bathe and change, and then they could discuss what happened to his father over dinner once the child was stable.

After much coaxing during the bath, Xie Min finally remembered why he was there. However, he didn’t mention their father; he only cried about how hard his journey to the capital had been. Xie Yunqing checked and found that despite ten days of travel, Xie Min wasn’t injured or even thinner—he was still as round as ever. No one had bullied him.

When they finally sat for dinner, Xie Min grew impatient with Xie Yunqing’s attempts to manage him and reflexively struck his brother across the face. It wasn’t hard or painful—Xie Min never hit hard but the room went dead silent. Xie Yunqing’s eyes turned red instantly. He lowered his head and forced back the tears.

“Yunqing…” Pei Xuan called softly.

Xie Yunqing shook his head, signaling he was okay. Cui Ji eventually told him to stop trying to control the boy; neither of them minded.

When the meal ended, Xie Min finally revealed that he had a letter from their father in his small bundle. Xie Yunqing tore it open and read.

His father had been a pavilion chief in Dong’ou Township. Though the salary was small, it was enough. However, his stepmother’s family were wealthy locals who looked down on his father. Two months ago, she pressured him into taking a higher-paying job at a harbor. In the second month, a central inspector arrived to audit the accounts. The books didn’t match the actual goods. To save himself, his father’s superior pinned the embezzlement on his father.

In Yongjia, this was a capital offense. The perpetrator would be executed, and the family sentenced to exile, never to return. His father was in prison, awaiting execution next month.

There was one hope: Xie Yunqing’s maternal grandfather had once been an official in the capital. Though he had retired to Yongjia, several of his close friends remained in the capital and held high positions. His father begged him to seek their help, listing their names and ranks at the end of the letter.

Xie Yunqing’s hand dropped. The paper fell onto his lap silently.

He looked at Pei Xuan and thought: Why not ask him? As the Chancellor’s brother, Pei Xuan’s word carried immense weight. But looking into Pei Xuan’s sincere eyes, Xie Yunqing couldn’t bring himself to do it. He had already taken too much. Besides, his father had given him a path.

“Is it really nothing major?” Pei Xuan leaned in, trying to see the letter. Xie Yunqing hid it behind his back, insisting he could solve it himself. Cui Ji finally called Pei Xuan off, sensing Xie Yunqing’s distress.

The next morning, Xie Yunqing left the villa at dawn. A carriage was already waiting another of Pei Xuan’s arrangements.

He visited the first house. The owner, a white-haired elder, was a former friend of his grandfather, Lin Shu. The old man was moved by the resemblance between Xie Yunqing and his late friend. But after hearing the story, his expression turned grim.

“It is not that I won’t help,” the elder sighed. “The matter in Yongjia appears local, but it involves… the Emperor. Even if your father is a minor figure, once involved, the implications are vast. I am powerless.”

Xie Yunqing visited the other three friends. All were welcoming at first, but all turned pale upon hearing the details. It was a matter they couldn’t touch.

Walking out of the last house, Xie Yunqing’s legs gave out, and he collapsed on the steps. It was painful enough to make him cry. He realized that if he couldn’t save his father, he would lose the last person in the world who loved him.

I cannot lose him!

He ignored the pain, climbed back into the carriage, and asked to go to the Academy. He would cast aside his pride and ask Pei Xuan.

But at the Academy, as he ran toward Pei Xuan’s quarters, a figure stopped him. It was Ruan Ci, looking pale and ill.

“Ruan—” Xie Yunqing’s throat tasted like blood.

“Something happened to your father, didn’t it?” Ruan Ci asked. “You’ve begged many people today?”

Xie Yunqing nodded.

“And now you want to ask Pei Xuan,” Ruan Ci said, closing his eyes. “I am stopping you only because I don’t want to see you disappointed again.”

“Disappointed?” Xie Yunqing repeated mechanically.

Ruan Ci looked him in the eye. “Yes. Because in this matter, even Pei Xuan… cannot help you.”